The physical duct installation of the R1.2-billion fibre network in Johannesburg will be completed by December 2012, with a full project completion scheduled for June 2013. This is according to Bwired CEO Musa Nkosi.
Bwired, a company which was set up to build the fibre network and drive down the cost of broadband in Johannesburg, has already completed most of the project.
“We have completed most of the project and should be completed with the physical duct installation by no later than December this 2012. Thereafter we will be testing the full redundancy of the network, ensuring that the last mile connectivity is deployed and tested,” said Nkosi.
“We are on track with the project roll out and we are confident that we will have the project completed early 2013.”
This fibre network will consist of a 900km fibre ring broken into 5 regions – South West, South East, Central, North West, North East.
“The network will be capable of transferring capacity of up to 1.2 terabits per second. We have 9 Core POP’s (point of presence) and 8 Priority Metro sites, with 2 Primary International Transit nodes,” said Nkosi.
Nkosi added that the planned completion date for the network is June 2013, after which they will be launching the eighteen services that the COJ will be using on the network.
Musa Nkosi
Connecting businesses and consumers
Nkosi explained that the Bwired network covers most of the greater of the City of Johannesburg with fibre, which allows them to be within reach of most businesses and citizens requiring a fibre service.
“We are building the foundations of a smart city which has been an interesting yet exciting challenge, but once implemented it will allow for fast expansion at lower costs,” said Nkosi.
“Local ISP’s will be able to buy bandwidth from BWired at reduced rates where they can package it and on-sell to the consumers. There will be hot spots created where citizens can get connected. Over time we believe FTTH (fibre to the home) will become a reality.”
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